Halloween Cake Pops

I saw these on the cover of Family Circle magazine and instantly wanted to make them. After buying everything (a rather expensive indeavor when you add the lolly-pop sticks, Styrofoam, and chocolate), at 10:30 the night before we (I conned Joel into helping me) were ready to roll. the chocolate melts, lolly-pop sticks, styrofoam were all found at Michael's Craft store.

I recommend baking the cake (store box cake mix) a few days before.

Once it is cool, crumble it up into small pieces.

Add store bought frosting (in no way are these good for you, hello transfat). only use 3/4 of the container, otherwise they'll be too wet.

roll into balls about the size of a walnut. if done properly, 1 cake should yield about 48 balls. put the cake balls onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper and put into the freezer, cover. you can do up to this part, days or even a week or two ahead.

I recommend watching the video - the shortening does help immensely to get the chocolate to the perfect consistancy.

Also mini M&M can be used for many different things - eyes, nose, stems. chocolate chips make good animal ears. we decorated everything at once. Joel dipped the cake pops and I decorated and put them in the Styrofoamto set up.

lessons learned - think ahead about transporting. the largest piece of Styrofoam is not easily transported with 2 car seats. have 2 people handy when ready to decorate. the first few will not be perfect, that's ok. the food markers are not vibrant - get the paint if you want something defined. keep the cake balls cold prior to dipping, they'll have a tendency to crumble otherwise

In these pictures I made 3 cakes - devil's food with chocolate frosting, vanilla with vanilla, and lemon with cream cheese. We started decorating around 10:30 at night and finished at 1.

Butternut Squash, Apple, and Onion Galette

There is a reason there isn't a picture - next time I will put a piece of foil under the whole thing to make tranferring it from the cookie sheet to the platter easier.

I also used refrigerated pie crusts (both of them that come in the box) instead of making my own dough. I included the dough recipe but cannot vouch for it. If you don't make our own pie crust, the preparation is quick as you leave the skin on the apples and squash.

I used a combination of acorn and butternut squash too. The Dijion whole grain mustard from trader joes worked well. Leftovers were equally as good the next day.

Ingredients
Dough:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Filling:
1 large baking apple, such as Rome Beauty or Cortland
1 small or 1/2 medium butternut squash (about 3/4 pounds), halved, seeded, and skin on
1 small yellow onion, peeled, root end trimmed but intact
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1/3 cup crumbled Stilton or other blue cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)** Since I hate blue cheese, I used about the same amount of feta in its place

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

For the dough: Pulse the flour and salt together in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse about 10 times until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with a few bean-size bits of butter in it. Add the egg and pulse 1 to 2 times more; don't let the dough form a mass around the blade. If the dough seems very dry, add up to 1 tablespoon of cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time, and pulsing briefly. Remove the blade and bring the dough together by hand. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

For the filling: Halve and core the apple. Cut each 1/2 into 8 wedges and put them in a large bowl. Slice the squash and cut the onion into wedges so that both are as thick as the apple wedges, and add them to the apples. Add the butter, rosemary, and thyme and toss gently to combine. Don't get distracted like I did, the butter will solidify quickly on you. Season with salt and pepper and toss again.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch disk. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and brush with mustard. Starting 2 inches from the edge, casually alternate pieces of apple, squash, and onion in overlapping circles—if you have extra pieces of one or another, tuck them in where you can or double them up until to use all the filling. Fold and pleat the dough over the edge of the filling. Bake until the crust is brown and the apples, squash, and onions are tender and caramelized, about 55 minutes. Scatter the cheese over the filling and bake until melted, about 5 minutes more. Cool the galette briefly on a wire rack. Cut into wedges and serve.

Cauliflower Gratin

This recipe was adapted from an Ina Garten recipe found on food.tv. This was also good reheated the next day and if you don't like Cauliflower like me, a good way to eat it. It would be a nice addition to any fall meal.

The original recipe calls for blanching the cauliflower ahead of time and cooking for less time. since my oven would be on for an hour anyway, I went the easier route.

Ingredients
1 (3-pound) head cauliflower, cut into small florets
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3/4 cup grated Gruyere, divided (I actually used the Trader Joe's Gruyere swiss blend and did not use the Parmesan at all - and probably used a lot more cheese than called for)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup panko

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Pour the milk into the butter-flour mixture and stir until it comes to a boil. Boil, whisking constantly until thickened. Off the heat, add 1 teaspoon of salt, the pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup of the Gruyere, and the Parmesan.
Pour 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of an 8 by 11 by 2-inch baking dish (sprayed with Pam). Place the cauliflower on top and then spread the rest of the sauce evenly on top. Combine the panko (or breadcrumbs) with the remaining 1/4 cup of Gruyere and sprinkle on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the gratin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the top is browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.